Concert in Madrid
Yesterday I attended the Purple concert here in Madrid. I've never been a big fan of the band, though I've always liked them, and was very intrigued as to what would they do with an orchestra.
Besides, the venue was not the best to get good sound. And I was afraid that poor quality sound would result in a mess that would spoil the evening.
Man, was I wrong! The sound engineer did a marvellous job and I enjoyed one of the best concerts in my life. I will not say 'the best' because I am still in shock and don't want to be unduly carried away by what I saw yesterdays. The only flaw where the unavoidable whistlers who always appear in quiet passages; "Hey, man, there are thousands of people here! If I whistle during a quiet passage, everybody will hear it! I'll make a profound impact in their lives!"
But, apart from these poor sods, with whom Jon Lord seemed to be pretty pissed off, everything else was amazing. Recently I had lost interest in the band because, with the only exception of Steve Morse, I felt they were just going through the motions. Maybe this imaginative setting, with an orchestra and soul wind section, has been the push they needed to do something fresh and give the best of themselves once again.
I've never been at a Purple concert before, but I seriously doubt they may have ever been better before. With the only exception of Ian Gillan, whose voice was clearly damaged, though the sound techs did a good job covering for it. And he himself did his best with his now limited abilities.
I will not include set lists or anything, as I guess you all know them. I only hope everybody had such a great time as I had.
[ reviews | the highway star ]